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Braden spoiled me SO SO much yesterday on my Birthday. He had everything secretly planned out and when he got home from work at UPS he revealed everything that we were going to do.

*My special day started out with lunch at Huber's.
*Then off to my scheduled appointment for a massage!

*Next we saw UP (which I've been wanting to see since it came out).

*Then it was time for dinner at one of my favorite restaurants.

So, I guess being 24 isn't so bad...but 25, yeah, I'd like to skip that one...haha! :)

Wedding Weekend!

Back to St. Louis this past weekend for Tommy and Julie's wedding. It was at a beautiful winery in Defiance, MO called Chandler Hill Vineyards. Here's a picture of the view (the ceremony was held by the lake where you can see the white chairs set up):Ceremony:Julie and Tommy saying their vows:

Braden, Brad, and Reeder after the ceremony:

B and me:Groomsmen:B and me with the newlyweds:

Button Frame

I got the idea to do this one day as I was shopping at local antique/consignment shops: I had quite a few spare buttons that I will not be using anytime soon...other than gathering dust in my little collection jar. They are mostly the extras that come in those little baggies when you purchase clothes.


The frame is from Ikea (I LOVE IKEA!) and I basically just sewed the buttons to a piece of cute patterned paper that I cut to fit the size of the frame. It was really easy and I think it turned out adorable. What do you think?


Off to find a place to hang it! :)

Wave Blanket

Here is my latest work in progress...it's a blanket I am crocheting out of a rainbow of colors:Someday it will fit on a twin-full size bed, but I have alot of work to do on it first.

I slowly work on it as I feel like it and hope that someday our kids will use it :)

You can find the pattern that I used for this blanket here .

Dishcloths too!

Recently I've been able to finish up some projects I've been working on for a while. One such project that I completed is knitting some dishcloths with cotton yarn. Here's what they look like: If you're a knitter, these are really simple to knit and they're pretty quick too. The pattern for these classic ballband dishcloths can be found here.

New Earrings!

Aren't these fun?

I made them from old buttons (the kind with the button hole on the back), just snip the back off and hot glue to earring studs and you have yourself a pair of lovely earrings! I painted the plain pink and red pairs since they were plain white.

Make your own, or buy them from my etsy shop.

Vacation

Braden had a week of vacation starting the last weekend in May so we headed home to St. Louis.

We started the weekend out right with a suprise 50th Birthday party for my mom. My dad and I had been (trying) to plan the thing for months but when it got down to the last few weeks until the party, we were scrambling. Thankfully my mom's girlfriends were there to help us otherwise I'm not entirely sure we would have pulled the "suprise" part of the party off.

So picture a garage FULL of people waiting for the Birthday girl to get to the house:

When mom arrived she was totally suprised (she didn't really want a party in the first place, but come on! You HAVE to have a party when you turn 50!):We had a BBQ feast and everyone brought a side dish:Oh! And I can't forget to mention the obstacle course!!! The guys all dressed up in work-out gear (Richard Simmons would be proud)....so that explains the short shorts and shirts:Here's mom with the birthday cake:

Then on Sunday, Braden and I took off to the Lake of the Ozarks for 5 days with Braden's parents and brothers.

We celebrated Diane's Birthday. Here's a picture of her and the boys:

The rest of the time we were out in the sun or shopping at the outlets:When we got back from the lake we had a wedding to go to and I had a couple of wedding showers too.

Oh! And I got to see my bestest friend Kristen who now lives in Arkansas with her husband...that was a rare treat for sure! :)

So! That's what we've been up to lately...makes me tired just thinking about all of the stuff we crammed into that week....seems like I always need a vacation after vacation! Whew! :)

Memorial Weekend trip to Cincy

Yay for 3 day weekends!

We made another trip up to Cincinnati after Braden got off work at Panera on Saturday afternoon. We just like to get away every once in a while and have some fun exploring new places. Some highlights were that we got to go to IKEA! We didn't get anything noteworthy, just a few household items and a few deals that couldn't be passed up! :)

And Braden found some half price tickets for a Cincinnati Reds baseball game on Memorial Day. Here's a few pictures right outside the stadium.

Our seats were great! Right down the first base line. Braden is the best deal finder! :)It did end up raining and the game got delayed...but it didn't spoil our fun. We stayed dry with our rain ponchos:

So, even though we weren't with our families or having a BBQ, we had a great Memorial Weekend, just the two of us. :)

CeFiore

I was craving me some frozen yogurt last night and Braden and I found a little place on Bardstown Road (for those of you who live here in Louisville, KY) called CeFiore.

Totally, you should check it out...great frozen yogurt flavors and lots of fresh fruit toppings.

Oh, it feels like summer already! :)

Who is ready for the pools to open and Memorial Weekend specials!?

Itty Bitty Sweater

I am in the process of crocheting so many blankets currently that I decided to take a break and whip up something quick and small.

This was just the thing: Isn't it so cute? :)

For sale now at my etsy shop.

Yes to Carrots

My mom told me about this stuff and I love totally love it! It's called Yes to Carrots...it's my current favorite body butter. My skin gets so dry from all the shaving that comes with the warmer weather and this stuff does the trick to keep the dryness away and it smells fresh too.

I got mine at Walgreens at the end of last year when it was on sale for a dollar (what a steal! I bought 3.) but normally I think it is a bit pricey...which is unfortunate because now I'm hooked! You can find more info about their products here, which include Yes to Cucumbers and Yes to Tomatoes, depending on your skin type.

I'm just a little upset that there is no review on my newest addiction Skin Deep. It's a website that tells you exactly what is in your skincare products and rates them on a scale of 1-10 on how hazardous they are for you (kinda scary huh?).

So, what's your favorite body butter/lotion?

Nashville Tournament

This past weekend, Braden and I met my mom and sister (Miranda) in Nashville, TN. Miranda was playing in a soccer tournament with her team, St. Louis Scott Gallagher. We had some rain but we ended up getting all three games in, we tied the first and won the second and third.

We made it to the playoffs against the team we tied during the first game, and ended up with a win, 2-0! 1st place was really exciting and made it all worth the 5 hours that it took the team to get there from St. Louis (it only took 2 1/2 hours for us from Louisville).

Here's a pic of us and the champ:

And the entire team, showing off their medals:

To all you slackers...

...don't forget that tomorrow is Mother's Day. Do something! :)

Green Thumb?

ok, so i love plants/flowers and having them around my house and on my porch...BUT i always seem to kill them because i forget to water and maintain them. even so, i bought more this year...they were inexpensive and pretty low maintenance so hopefully they'll last at least a few months! :)

i bought some petunias

i lost the tag to these so i don't know what they're called...any guesses out there?and i'm going to attempt to keep this oregano plant alive to add some freshness to my pasta, pizza, and other saucesthere is one exception to my lack of a green thumb and here it is

this philodendron i got at the st. joseph's orphan picnic last fall and it will not die, not that i want it to! so if your experiences with plants/flowers are anything like mine have been, def. go with this hardy plant!

what are you growing?